How to make a bird feeder easy. How to make a bird feeder with your own hands? Hanging wooden bird feeders

Scientists now clearly agree that harmful birds not at all. Even from such arrogant rogues as hooded crows and cormorants, as it turned out, there is still much more benefit than harm. Documented attacks on climbers by bearded eagle and lamb's eagle have been caused by climbers approaching their nests; a brood is a brood, it needs to be protected. The second thing that experts are unanimous about is that in winter a bird feeder is needed in residential areas. Many of the small and most useful of them do not make regular flights, but undertake feeding migrations in winter. Near human habitation, forage areas remain abundant longer than in wildlife and when the real cold comes with a lack of food, there will no longer be enough strength to fly: there will be nothing to profit from along the way.

If you describe the bird in one word, it would be movement. There are no and cannot be birds that hibernate or otherwise save their own energy resources when unfavorable conditions occur: adaptation of the body to flight requires high speed metabolism. If the bird is hungry and/or cold, it becomes more and more anxious, looking for something nutritious to peck. She does not weaken at the same time until she falls, numb, at the feet of a passerby. Take it to the veterinarians - maybe they will come out. But it’s still better, after spending a little labor, to build a feeder for the winter with your own hands; Almost any household scraps or scraps will work for this.

Wild birds at feeders in winter

Gardeners, gardeners and summer residents who visit their plots in winter will benefit greatly from this: even granivorous birds, sparrows, for example, feed their brood with insects. In the spring, just in time for the chicks to hatch, pests wake up and become active. If you make a bird feeder in the fall and feed their beneficial community on the site, see Fig., you will need to spend much less on plant protection products. Bird feeders, let the reader know, can be made attractive for some species of birds and not very convenient for others, from which there is less benefit. How exactly – this is the focus of this article. Not to the detriment, hopefully, of other aspects of the issue, such as materials that are cheaper or completely free, design, etc.

What kind of feeder should it be?

Let us first imagine the design of a feeding trough. Let’s just imagine it, because there is no need to draw it up on paper and run around with it in offices with serious uncles and caustic aunts. But, firstly, you need to know where and for what purpose there will be a winter bird canteen: in the city, outside the city, for temporary feeding in the very cold or for permanently attracting useful helpers. Secondly, who will we feed? Who should we let go ahead, and who should we unobtrusively ask to wait? For example, if others have a bad time, sparrows, crows and pigeons will certainly kill each other. They have long become accustomed to humans and will find something to profit from in the most severe food shortage, but in a dacha or on an estate other birds will be of more use.

Having decided on the “range of desired clientele,” we will choose the design of the feeder. Birds not only do not eat all the same things, they also take food in different ways: from the ground or an extensive solid level support, from thick branches, twigs and tree trunks, clinging to them with their claws, from swaying thin branches and blades of grass; The design of the feeder should provide advantageous access to feed to desired guests. We do not mean birds that take food in the summer; they are all migratory. After this, we will select the material for the feeder, preferably free, and from it we will see how to make it. This is approximately the WPR (work execution plan).

Who will feed?

As already said, sparrows, pigeons and, especially, crows need to be discouraged from the feeder. What kind of birds are desirable on it? Of course, wintering in this area. They can be divided into 2 categories: the first are nomadic. They do not have specific wintering places; Where there is enough food, it is good there even in winter. They will be the most frequent guests at the feeder. The second ones are obligate, i.e. necessarily wintering in their permanent feeding stations (areas). Only extreme circumstances can drive them to the feeder: a particularly harsh winter, etc. In the central zone of the Russian Federation and in the south of Siberia, in addition to the ubiquitous persistent sparrows, the birds shown in the figure fly to the feeder; a list with names is below it.

Birds you can expect at your feeder in winter

• nuthatch;
• pika;
• lesser spotted woodpecker;
• crossbill;
• jay;
• nutcracker or nutcracker;
• bullfinch;
• waxwing;
• common grosbeak;
• goldfinch;
• yellowhammer;
• greenfinch;
• great tit;
• blue tit;
• tufted tit;
• Muscovy tit;
• long-tailed tit;
• chickadee.

The first trinity are obligately wintering insectivorous birds. Nuthatch and pika extract insects from bark cracks and wood passages with beaks specially adapted for this purpose. Woodpeckers, as you know, gouge their way to prey. At the feeder, you can almost certainly expect only the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker: it has already, one might say, completely gotten along with people, and with a lack of animal food, it is able to feed on hard seeds. Other woodpeckers (black or yellow, great spotted, green, golden or Syrian) will never fly to the feeder, and if a nuthatch and/or pika appear there, it means that the birds are generally unwell this winter, and high-calorie food with animal fats should be given and proteins; which one exactly – more on that later. All these birds take food by clinging to a support.

Crossbills also overwinter obligately, but feed by husking the seeds of conifers from cones, these are the most specialized of shelling birds, their beak has turned into something like tongs. Crossbills even hatch chicks in the middle of winter, when there are plenty of puffed up cones. In general, they don’t care about taking food from a branch or clinging to a support, as long as it’s not from the ground. Jays and nutcrackers are also shellers, but not as skilled. By the way, Kedrovka can be seen not only in the north; sometimes it undertakes long-distance feeding migrations, during which it reaches Spain.

All shelling birds are very useful for the forest, because... contribute to the spread of trees: the crossbill loses a lot of them, restoring the existing forest, and the jay and nutcracker create storehouses of seeds, which are not fully used, or are even completely forgotten. This is how the forest spreads. Forestry specialists are confident that without nutcrackers, maintaining the supply of Siberian pine (Siberian cedar) would be impossible. In addition, jays and nutcrackers destroy a lot of wintering harmful insects.

It is possible to attract shelling birds to your site, but they need a special type of homemade feeders, see below. Shelling feeders are also sold ready-made, but there is nothing in them that you cannot make yourself. They will also be suitable for crossbills in case of cone harvest failure, however, after feeding, they will fly back into the forest.

Note: Just in case, let us also remind you: insectivorous forest birds and shellers fly to people for food in the most extreme cases, and then they must be offered nutritious, high-calorie food. Along the way, they will thoroughly clean up the garden and vegetable garden from overwintering harmful little things.

The bullfinch, waxwing, grosbeak and goldfinch are considered primarily frugivorous birds. There's no mistake here we're talking about not about the flesh, but about juicy fruits and berries. Their seeds in the digestive tract of these birds, as a rule, are not digested, but the germination of seeds after such treatment increases. That is, frugivorous birds contribute to the spread of berry bushes and trees. However, frugivorous birds feed their chicks with insects, and while/when there is no harvest, they themselves do not disdain them. Actually, frugivorous birds of middle latitudes can be considered avian omnivores, because. animal feed makes up a significant portion of their diet. The goldfinch can generally consume more insects than plant feed. In the extermination of wintering pests, they complement insectivores and shellers, because those, as a rule, do not take prey that is completely open and motionless, for example. pupae.

It is advisable to introduce frugivorous birds to the site, but with caution. A good bait would be pieces of soft, juicy plant food placed on the roof of the feeder: apple cores with seeds, pumpkin, cucumber. However, before you put bait, you need to take a closer look at those eating: if a grosbeak is seen among them, it is better to refuse baiting. In the spring, it pecks out swelling buds and in some places has become a real scourge of gardens and vegetable gardens. Later, the grosbeak more than compensates for the damage, destroying huge quantities May beetles and cabbage caterpillars, but still there is no need to promote its excessive reproduction.

Note: Sometimes it is advised, as a winter vitamin supplement, to put twigs in the feeder that have been left in water at home until the buds swell. No need, just like any other seedlings, or even absolutely useful tits, can learn to “bear wood.” The best vitamin food for birds in winter is cores of apples and pears with seeds, fibrous core of pumpkin with seeds, bunches of viburnum, rowan, elderberry, dried rose hips, cherry (can be made from compote) and grape seeds. For more information about feed, see below.

Fruit-eating birds take food from the ground and clinging to a support, so the feeder for them can be anything other than a swinging suspension, see below. They are stronger and stronger than sparrows, but not so impudent, so they are not competitors for tits if there is enough food. Goldfinches are the most common species at the feeder; they are close to becoming obligately hibernating human symbionts. Here it is useful to remember Saint-Exupery: “We are responsible for those we have tamed.”

Siskins, buntings and greenfinches are granivorous birds. Their seedlings have nothing to fear from weeds: they prefer wild grass seeds. The chicks are fed insects. Food is taken from the ground and from a swaying twig/blade of grass. They are friendly with tits, but sparrows need to be kept away from their feeder: granivorous birds are small, not very strong and non-aggressive.

Note: The author is deeply convinced that the old song about the little siskin who drank vodka on the Fontanka was composed not only as a mockery of the cadets of one of the elite cadet corps who wore yellow and black uniforms. In nature, the siskin really has a somewhat drowsy and arrogant look, like that of a beginning heavy drinker who has just grabbed (snatched, grunted, missed, rolled, knocked over, knocked over, etc., etc.) a stopper or two, see fig. on right. That doesn’t stop him from being as careful and prudent as a bird.

Finally, a horde of tit birds who steal wheat only from the house that Jack built. In fact, insects are an indispensable and significant part of their diet, and of varying sizes. If the great and tufted tits are able to cope with locusts, then the long-tailed tit and chickadee are not averse to pecking at aphids and spider mites. The tits have gotten along quite well with people; there is no need to attract them, they will come on their own. In normal winters, feeding should be given with dry plant matter, and in severe frosts - highly nutritious, like other insectivores. Then, having become bored with the dry grass over the winter, the titmice will attack the pests in the spring, not allowing them to properly stretch their mandibles, and they will immediately have no time for seedlings with crops. And whoever survives this beak slaughter will no longer be able to cause significant damage to the crop. Tits can take food from the thinnest branches blown by the wind; they only have one evolutionary step left to learn how to take food from the summer. This makes it easier to create specialized tit canteens.

What about sparrows?

Sparrows are no less useful than other granivores, but they are daring, sneaky, and live in flocks. And an ordinary bird feeder, unlike crows and pigeons, is quite suitable in size for them. Sparrows take food mainly from the ground, but they are not afraid of branches. Therefore, they are able to eat other birds, when for them feeding is a matter of life and death, and the chirping scoundrels themselves, in the meantime, could hold out somehow. So it is advisable to arrange a winter bird feeder in such a way that sparrows fly to it only if the wind is really blowing in the crop.

Diagram of a bird feeder that is unattractive to sparrows

Here you can use their caution and manner of avoiding danger. If you noticed, the sparrows run away, starting from a place steeply upward. Therefore, a feeder with low entrances (windows for birds to access the food) and a steep roof with large overhangs is unattractive for sparrows: in order to escape from there, you must first flutter to the side, and this is not sparrow-like. An “anti-sparrow” feeder can be made similar to a chicken feeder, diagram in Fig. Next we will consider other options.

Types of feeders

When choosing the type of feeder, in addition to the species composition of the guests, you need to keep in mind the following:

• Birds navigate primarily by sight; Their hearing is rather weak, and their sense of smell, one might say, is non-existent. Therefore, the food should be visible from afar.
• The food must be protected from being blown by the wind, snowed in, or eaten by unwanted visitors such as squirrels or chipmunks.
• It is also advisable to avoid spilling food on the ground so as not to give “beacons” to small predators. By the way, the most dangerous of them are not cats, domestic and wild, but much more cunning, ferocious and bloodthirsty ferrets, weasels and stoats. There are quite a few of them living near homes, but they are very good at avoiding being seen.
• It is better to hang feeders for temporary feeding in winter, so they will attract sparrows less.
• Stationary feeders for attracting birds to the site should be placed on poles with protection from predators, see below. Birds flying to feed will recognize the area as theirs if the food is found on a sufficiently large, flat, stable area.

Based on everything stated above, let’s see which winter bird feeders are better in which case. Their main types are shown in the figure:

Types of winter feeders for wild birds

1 – hanging feeder. Just food on a string or in a mesh case. A typical tit feeder in case of extreme cold. Among other birds, it can be visited by forest insectivores, except woodpeckers. “Antifreeze” food for tits – just a piece of unsalted lard, pos. 1 on next rice. A more nutritious option, also designed for shellers, is a ball of a mixture of seeds (see below), held together with congealed lard or peanut butter in a vegetable net, pos. 2. However, there is no need to cast the feed mass into plastic cups or beautiful shapes and freeze it (pos. 6,7), it is difficult for birds to cling and the calories from feeding may not compensate for the energy consumption to support themselves by fluttering their wings. The ball from the finished mass must be sculpted by hand in the cold; the fat hardens quickly, and the ball can be hung immediately.

Hanging feeders for tits

A hanging feeder can be made for certain species of birds. For example, great tits readily peck at garlands of dried berries (especially rose hips) or peanut pods, pos. 3, 4. But blue tits love to ride on swings, and balls for them need to be hung on the thinnest and most elastic branches or even designed in an original way in the form of mobile sculptures, or mobiles, poses. 5. Great tits will also fly there, but they do not fight with blue tits.

For shelling birds, bullfinches and waxwings, hanging feeding from a cone will be good; For visibility, it’s a good idea to supplement it with a bunch of viburnum or rowan, pos. 1 to the following figure:

Hanging feeder made of pine cones

If there is no fertile cone, any disheveled one will do: it is doused with peanut butter (pos. 2), solid food is stuffed between the scales (pos. 3), and hanged. Bird lovers and animal photographers, hanging cone baits since the summer, manage to make even crossbills their regular guests.

Paper hanging feeders

A hanging feeder for any birds that take food from a swinging support can be quickly made from paper. In fact, paper is not a material for winter feeders: it becomes limp and pecks. But a spool from a toilet paper roll, smeared with the same peanut butter and sprinkled with seeds (see the picture on the right), can save more than one poor creature right before your eyes, and you can make such a feeder in literally 5 minutes. The colored tails below are not a whim; they are visible to birds from afar and attract their attention. It is better to make the tails red and/or green: for birds, red means berries, and where there is greenery in winter, there will be food.

2 – platform. The advantage is that the feed is clearly visible. Disadvantages: the food falls asleep in the snow, the wind blows it up, a lot of it wakes up, the sparrows feel at home on it.

Feeder-house out of the box

3 – house. The food is protected from snow; By selecting the roof structure, the feeder-house can be made windproof and anti-sparrow. But a lot of food still wakes up, and only birds that are accustomed to feeding will come to dine. Forest dwellers, reaching for housing in an extreme situation, may simply not see what is there and drop dead two steps away. A feeding house with a sloping roof can also be quickly built from a box, as shown in Fig. on right. If circumstances allow, then it is advisable to soak the box three to five times diluted with PVA (it is also useful for cardboard feeders), and glue supports from sticks/twigs. Then the structure will be enough for more than one winter. This feeder is nailed to the tree.

Note: the feeding platform can be converted into a house and back as needed (weather, etc.) by attaching a removable roof made of thin hard plastic, see fig. left. PET from cut bottles, sewn with fishing line or stapled with a stapler, works well, but thin polycarbonate will also work. In the latter case, you need to nail slats with grooves to the sides of the platform and slide the roof in and out of them.

Feeder house for strong birds

A feeder-house with a pitched roof is also convenient for fairly large and strong birds: pigeons, waxwings, jays, nutcrackers. They all don’t mind feeding in a row, so a dining house for them needs to be made with a perch. Material – any suitable, incl. and treated cardboard as a wood substitute, see below. The feeder for these birds should be larger than for small birds; For approximate dimensions see fig. on right. It’s tempting to quickly build a similar one from a shoebox, in the same place, but it won’t last long: strong, active birds will tear and peck at the weak material in a feeding or two.

4 – bunker. Optimal in all respects, including anti-sparrow resistance. The fact is that sparrows are flocking birds. If the flock does not fit in the feeding area, 1-2 sparrows will not “run over” the buntings with chickadees: they will eat in someone else’s company, but take turns and observe decency.

Homemade bunker bird feeders

Homemade bunker feeders come in different designs, see fig. In the center there is a special area for tits and small spotted woodpeckers (a hard narrow area, see below). She and the one on the right are anti-sparrows. Modern materials make it possible to manufacture such an effective feeder as a bunker in 5 minutes. How is clear from Fig. on right.

Making a bird feeder from a bottle

Materials – PET bottle, plastic plate, nylon thread, superglue. Tools – scissors, knife, gypsy needle. And this feeder will last for more than one winter.

5.6 – tray. The food is poorly visible, so these are feeders for familiar and important birds. What is better to do in front of the entrance, a landing platform or a perch-pole, depends on the type of feeding; What is more convenient for someone, we will see further in the course of the presentation. They are divided into designs with free access to feed (5 in the figure at the beginning of the section) and its automatic feeding into the feeding tray (6 in the same place). The latter are even better than bunker ones: the feed practically does not spill. We will look at them in more detail later. A tray feeder can be designed to accommodate only 1 or several species of birds (6), but to do this you need to have serious knowledge of ornithology, appropriate tools and skills; Specialized tray feeders are commercially available in a fairly wide range.

Note: if the tray canteen is planned to be publicly accessible, the food in it can be made clearly visible by making the bin completely or partially transparent from plastic.

7 – specialized feeder-husker for birds of the appropriate type of food. The feed is held in place by a metal mesh. It can be combined with a tray and thus become combined.

Materials and designs
Plastic

The most popular feeders today are plastic. There are several reasons: empty, unusable plastic containers have nowhere to go, transparent plastic makes the food visible from afar, working with plastic is easy, not wasteful, and can be done at home without special tools. Plastics are durable, resistant, bird feeders made from them will last for many years and can be made of any type.

Plastic bird feeders

If you make a feeding house out of plastic, pos. 1 in Fig., please note that the roof should be matte and generally opaque. Wild birds, of course, are smarter than tame canaries and parrots, but when they see a sneaking cat (or, say, the shine of a lens), they can hit the transparent lens out of fright.

Good small plastic feeders are made from used toys: cubes, etc. They are made from polyethylene, so the only reliable way to glue, for example, a roof is instant cyanoacrylate glue (superglue). The feeders are clearly visible, all birds are curious to one degree or another, so there are no problems with the visibility of food. Round holes in polyethylene are easily cut with a ballerina compass with two needles. Homemade products for pos. 2 For complete bird happiness, the only thing missing is perches: polyethylene is slippery.

At pos. 3 and 4 are already purchased plastic feeders. Just a note: the house on pos. 3 costs 180 rubles, and the transparent “firm” at pos. 4 – three times more. But the same feeder can be glued together from scraps of polycarbonate and equipped, if you really want it for a window, with suction cups for bathroom shelves.

Feeders made from unusable plastic containers deserve special consideration, see fig. below. The design for pos. is very well thought out. 1. A wide tray provides good visibility of food, and in combination with a perch allows any birds to feed. The large capacity of the tray and the corresponding supply of food in it do not require frequent approaches from feeders, which frightens the birds less. The trough-shaped tray ensures minimal spillage of feed. Wing hatches bent upward provide an anti-sparrow effect; The platform they form on top allows you to place juicy vitamin supplements.

Bird feeders made from unusable containers

Feeders for pos. 2 and 3 are focused on tits, goldfinches and granivores. The main thing in them is a properly designed dispenser tray, see below. Simpler feeders for the same tribe, pos. 4 and 5, you can hang it if the sparrows are not very annoying. At pos. 4 there was a container for computer disks, this is more for small things like siskins, and the feeding station from a sour cream bucket (item 5) will feed bullfinches and waxwings.

Feeders made from used containers can also be classified as plastic. liquid products. The milk-kefir bags are, however, cardboard, but they are laminated with film on both sides, so they will last through the winter. Well, as for bottles and containers, they are made of PET. Small milk and juice packets make excellent feeders for tits, goldfinches, and granivores; you just need to insert a perch stick, pos. 1 on next rice. For the same birds, if the egg is used, you need to cut openings in the vessel about 6x8 cm, each on 3 sides, not reaching 3-4 cm to the bottom, and bend the valves outward, pos. 2.

Bird feeders made from bags and bottles

If you screw a hard wooden circle to the bottom of the dishes instead of wobbly valves, you can count on visits from the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. He won’t sit on a tit flap: what kind of woodpecker will he be if he doesn’t cling to a tree with his claws?

Large bags make public canteens, then the openings need to be cut larger so that the food can be seen from afar. In the case when the feeder is suspended in free space, you must also pierce it with a perch, pos. 4. When placed in a bush as a perch for tits, its branches, pos. 5, and the sparrows will be uncomfortable here.

Egg bag and tray...

How to make a bird feeder from a plastic bottle

How to make a feeder from a plastic container and a 0.25-0.5 liter bottle is shown in Fig. on right. The hook at the bottom is optional; hanging food can be hung on it, see above. However, for other types of feeders, the bottle dispenser tray may be too big. In this case, it can be glued together from cardboard or several layers of paper soaked in diluted PVA, see next. rice.:

Construction of a bird feeder tray made from eggplant

Yellow arrows show the paths of feed movement. To make him wake up less, the inner end of the perch stick should reach the rear edge of the tray; Of course, you can pierce the vessel right through with it. The arrows in the center of the circle give the horizontal and vertical scale, i.e. the entrance will be 6 cm in diameter, this is enough for birds no larger than a great tit.

... and a house made of packages

Feeder house made from juice bags

From 2 juice packets you get a good tit feeder-house, see fig. on right. The entire structure is held together with straws from the same juice, their protruding ends will be perches. To prevent the perches from bending (the corrugation of the straw remains outside), it is advisable to insert thin twigs into the tubes; can be broken off right there on the spot.

Wooden feeders are good for their durability: impregnated with drying oil, water-polymer emulsion or its substitute in the form of diluted PVA and painted, they last for years. Therefore, wooden feeders are most often made stationary. Of course, to make them you will also need carpentry tools with a separate workplace.

A simple homemade bird feeder made of wood

The traditional design of a wooden feeder is a house. A view of the simplest homemade wooden feeder with dimensions is shown in Fig. left. However, firstly, such a feeder does not protect food from weathering, because the space under the flat roof is blown through. Secondly, by seemingly slightly changing the configuration and proportions of the parts, it is possible to specialize the feeder quite strongly. E.g. pos. 1 in Fig. Below is public. Pos. 2 will attract shelling birds: landing on the slats protruding to the side and pulling out seeds through the lathing will give the complete illusion of the usual feeding process. Pos. 3 and 4 – with weakened blowing of food and a noticeable anti-passerine effect, for small and larger birds, respectively. Pos. 5 – almost windproof and fundamentally anti-sparrow: a sparrow that has retained its common sense will fly into this only as a last resort.

Winter bird feeders made of wood

It is more convenient and easier to make winter hanging wooden feeders from plywood and blocks of approximately 30x30 or 30x40 mm. Here you can do without lumber at all by gluing PVA bars from strips of the same plywood. However, stationary feeders on poles will be more durable from solid wood, because... plywood outdoors, except for expensive waterproof birch, after a season or two begins to delaminate with any impregnation.

Drawings of a stationary wooden bird feeder

For example in Fig. Above is a drawing of a country, garden or forest feeder for all types of birds. A tin tray on a pole not only keeps predators out, but also serves as a dining area for sparrows. The lifting liner (it slides freely on the post) makes cleaning easier and allows birds of one species to feed from their recess, leaving others to feed. You can hang nets or cones with food for shellers on a pole under the roof, and hanging food for tits at the corners of the platform. The roof is removable and on hooks for easy maintenance.

Wooden special

Double Deck Hanging Bird Feeder

A hanging analogue of such a feeder, as they say now, with simplified functionality, is shown in Fig. on right. The diameter of the floor platforms is about 500 mm. The ledges on the middle platform are convenient for birds looking at the food before starting to eat. In this case, the sparrows are given the upper platform: these troublemakers will scatter the food anyway, so you can do without a side, although it won’t hurt.

In Fig. Below are wooden feeders, bunker and tray, which can be converted into combined ones, suitable for hullers. The fact is that in these designs, to improve the visibility of the feed, the bunkers are made with glazed windows. Replacing glass with a steel mesh with a mesh size of about 5x5 mm will allow shellers to pull out seeds while others are pecking from trays or from the platform.

Wooden bird feeders with good visibility of food

How to do without a tree

Wooden feeders look better than home-made plastic ones; they are easier to adapt to the needs of both the birds and the owner. But what to do if you don’t have woodworking tools or don’t want to start carpentry with its sawdust and shavings in the house?

A feeder that is not inferior to a wooden one in terms of convenience and appearance and can last at least 3-4 seasons can be made from corrugated cardboard from packaging boxes that have become unnecessary. Of course, it will take more time, but the only tools you will need are a pencil, a ruler, a square, a sharp knife, scissors, an awl, PVA glue and a brush for it. The technology is similar to making cardboard shelves:

Making a wooden board substitute from corrugated cardboard

• For each part, 2-5 blanks-plates of the same size are cut out, depending on the required thickness, but with an internal corrugation oriented alternately along and across, see fig. on right;
• Each layer is impregnated on one side and the other with a water-polymer emulsion. It is not sold in small packaging, but its full replacement is PVA diluted three to five times with water. This work should be done on a plastic film underneath;
• A day later (if the sheets were drying at room temperature), the part is glued together with PVA in the same order: corrugation along/corrugation across, see the same figure;
• The part is dried on film, the top is also covered with film and pressed down with several books, evenly covering its entire area;
• The feeder is assembled using the same PVA glue;
• After drying, the end connections are reinforced with pins made of toothpicks or pointed matches without heads: the holes for the pins are pricked with an awl from top to bottom, a drop of glue is introduced into each and the pin is immediately pressed in;
• The open ends are sealed with strips of plain cardboard or thick paper soaked in diluted PVA;
• After 3-4 days of drying, the product can be painted, varnished, openings can be decorated with plastic, mesh can be attached, etc.

Original feeders

Anyone who takes up tinkering wants to make something of their own, unusual and unique. Unusual feeders can be divided into original ones based on the technique of execution or some functional features and simply beautiful, designer ones. One, of course, is no hindrance to the other, if only one’s hands were in place.

The first few, let's say, technical and functional ones, are shown in the figure:

Original bird feeders

Pos. 1 – special for shellers, frugivores and large granivores. The cob is placed on a nail driven through the bottom. Here it is necessary to note that the corn should be hard, fodder or oilseed varieties, with smaller grains. Canteen sugar will be harmful to birds: its grains contain too much starch and sugars.

Pos. Doesn’t require 2 comments: over the summer I accumulated ice cream sticks, then PVA, strings, and that’s it. If you make a pole on each side, then 4 siskins or chickadees will be able to feed at once. Pos. 3 is woven from paper tubes. The work is complex and time-consuming, especially considering that they need to be properly protected from limpness. However, judging by the fact that in such a small area there are as many as 3 great tits feeding and another one is waiting in line, the birds really like this creation.

Applying a mark to the end of the cable

Finally, pos. 4, from a tin can. Here it would not hurt to put a perch made of a stick in the braid instead of a slippery cold piece of iron. The manufacturing technology allows this quite well: the can is tied with a rope in the same way that sailors, riggers, or, say, high-rise assemblers, apply a mark to the end of the cable, see fig. on right.

If you take decorative feeders, then there are no restrictions on the design: the bright colors of the birds do not scare away, they can easily distinguish a drawn cat from a living one, and they will even peck the image in revenge; Let's just give a few examples in the figure:

Decorative bird feeders

According to the execution technique, it is better to avoid varnished and shiny surfaces, as in pos. 1. On a smooth surface, it is more difficult for the claws to catch on, the grains dodge the beak, and the glare hurts the bird’s sensitive eyes.

Pumpkin feeders for wild birds do not fit into any classification, but for birds this is a real paradise: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and microelements - all in one and in sufficient quantity for everyone. Plus, the support is strong and at the same time pliable under the claws. It is not necessary to make something like a house out of a pumpkin or carve a scarecrow’s face on it, as in the figure: it is enough to remove a piece of skin from one side to the pulp, and before spring only the peel will remain from the pumpkin. Perhaps suitable for fun crafts.

Pumpkin feeders for wild birds

What to feed wild birds?

All that remains is to decide what kind of bird food to put in the feeder. The best food for all wintering birds is wild grass seeds, especially burdocks. Songbird lovers and ornithologists collect turnip seeds in the summer or buy them at pet stores. Next, in order of preference by birds and benefits for them:

Note: if it is possible to buy the so-called at a pet store. Canary seed or grain mixture for budgies is just what any bird at the feeder needs.

Wheat, rye and bread made from them should be avoided: the bird's body is not designed to process excess starch. Black bread is especially dangerous: it causes inflammation of the goiter, which often leads to the death of the bird. Completely dry white bread crumbs can be given to pigeons and fruit-eating birds. The same applies to all cereals that swell greatly during cooking: barley (barley), rice, buckwheat. As mentioned above, you need to be careful with corn. In general, one must keep in mind that wild birds are smaller than chickens and ducks, and their digestion is unaccustomed to domestic feed.

Note: the peel of citrus and tropical fruits - bananas, mangoes, avocados, mangosteens, sapodillas, etc. is a deadly poison for our birds. It's a matter of sugar composition.

The best vitamin supplements, as already mentioned, are brushes and bunches of wild berries. In addition to the mentioned rowan, viburnum, and elderberry, barberries, currants, chokeberries, and junipers are also readily eaten. In the southern regions - cotoneaster, berries of “wild grapes” (cissus), boxwood. Seeds of table grapes, cherries and cherries from compote, melon and watermelon seeds (not pulp!), cores of apples and pears with seeds, grated raw carrots are also an excellent vitamin supplement. You should not give whole fruits: having fed on them, even the most principled tit will not resist the temptation to peck them in the garden in the summer.

An important component of the bird's diet is mineral nutrition and solid inclusions that grind food in the stomach. The most important mineral is calcium. Its source at the feeder is finely crushed eggshell. It must be given without fail if you want the winter eaters to nest right away in the spring. Birds, like domestic chickens, also need sand. It needs to be sprinkled a little at a time, always river rounded and the smallest.

So, a certain young man with an actively destructive way of thinking in the winter heard that black bread and banana peels are killer for birds. He immediately set to work: he was not lazy and put together a feeding trough, dried and finely crushed banana peels. Then he forked out for a loaf of Borodinsky for 40 rubles. at the price at that time, I crushed it too. I mixed everything, hung up the feeder, and poured bird poison into it.

The next morning I went, anticipating the “task,” to see how many of them were lying there dead with swollen crops. It turned out - not a single one, the food was not touched. Before the unlucky terrorist had time to decide what he should think about this, flocks of trees fell from the surrounding trees and showered Grisha with “business cards.” The individual “cards” merged into a continuous blanket, and a pile formed on the head. Since then, the poor fellow carefully and cautiously avoids even flocks of sparrows on the asphalt.

Wild animals and birds that live in nature cannot count on someone helping them in the winter just like their domesticated “brothers.” However, many people understand this and try to provide all possible assistance during the winter cold.

Benefits for both you and the birds

Caring people understand well how difficult this time is for our little brothers, since starting in late autumn, it is becoming increasingly difficult for many of them to find food. Of course, with all the desire, it is not so easy to help those of them who live in the forest or in remote areas. However, if you live in a city, town or village, then everything is within your power. Today we will talk about bird feeders. It is quite possible to make them, and we are talking about using improvised means, old packaging and containers, as well as other materials that, in any case, would most likely be thrown into a landfill.

By the way, having “accustomed” the birds to your feeder located on the site, in addition to the feeling that you are helping them, saving them from hunger during a difficult time of year, you receive some kind of additional “bonuses”:

• Birds will get used to your site and will begin to live in and around it more often. Thus, they will constantly delight you with their games, bustle and chirping, filling the surrounding space with vital energy.
• Quite often it happens that in the summer birds return a kind of debt to you, destroying numerous insects and pests that live in almost every garden or vegetable garden.

Wood is a reliable material!

In today's article we have presented photos of many options that will help with ideas on how to make a bird feeder with your own hands. As a rule, in order to implement a project for such a feeder, you do not need complex designs and drawings.

Attention! You can feed birds not only in winter, but also in summer, especially if you live in a country house or in a private house.

Before we look at the basic ideas for making feeders, let's talk about some of the features of choosing the material, as well as the places where you can hang or attach such a homemade structure.

Selection of material and installation location

Before choosing a place for a feeder, it will be very useful to learn the most common types of birds that live in our latitudes.

1. Nuthatch; 2. pika; 3. small spotted woodpecker; 4. crossbill; 5. jay; 6. nutcracker or nutcracker; 7. bullfinch; 8. waxwing; 9. common grosbeak; 10. goldfinch; 11. siskin; 12. common oatmeal; 13. greenfinch; 14. great tit; 15. blue tit; 16. tufted tit; 17. Muscovy tit; 18. long-tailed tit; 19. titmouse.

It is traditionally believed that a bird feeder should have the shape of a kind of house, which would be somewhat similar to a birdhouse. And in fact, this configuration is optimal for organizing a place for feeding birds. Let's consider the advantages of this form:

• The roof allows you to create protection from rain and snow.
• This design, made of plywood or wood, is strong, durable and reliable.
• She won't look alien, since we're talking about landscape design and the visual attractiveness of the entire site.

However, you should not be limited only to this form, and also to the fact that only wood can be used as a material. In fact, both the configuration and the material can be completely different.

The main thing is that the feeder meets the basic requirements:

1. The material from which the feeder is made must be stable and not deform over time. In other words, a birdhouse made of cardboard or similar improvised means is not suitable. It simply will not withstand difficult weather conditions: rain, sleet, etc.
2. At the same time, you can, as a last resort, make a small feeder from juice packaging or dairy products (kefir, milk, etc.). Tetra Pak and similar cardboard packaging in much to a greater extent, in comparison with ordinary cardboard, is adapted to the effects of moisture. However, such structures cannot be classified as durable. On the other hand, they are quite suitable as a temporary solution, which, under favorable circumstances, can serve you throughout the whole season. At the same time, it is necessary to understand that a feeder made from a milk carton is suitable only for small birds, since large ones simply will not fit in it.
3. By the way, it follows from the previous paragraph next output: the material must be strong and stable, since it must withstand not only autumn and winter bad weather, but also the weight of the birds themselves, some of which are quite massive. In addition, keep in mind that wear will also occur due to the constant impact of their claws, since they will, as a rule, sit in a cut-out opening (“window”).
4. By the way, since we are talking about a window, an entrance (this technological hole can be called, in fact, whatever you want), then we need to understand that its edges should not be sharp, because, otherwise, birds can injure their paws on them.

Location

In addition to the material, as well as manufacturing technology, you need to understand that the place in which you install or hang the bird feeder is also an important point. Thus, if possible, it is necessary to avoid installation in places where birds will have difficulty accessing. We are talking about dense branches and other similar places.

In addition, pay attention to ensuring that the feeder is located in a place that is difficult to reach for cats, which, as you know, are excellent hunters, living in large numbers in villages, dachas, as well as in cottages and private housing estates.

Advice! Place the feeder in an open space, in places easily visible to birds.

Popular ideas

Let's look at the basic ideas on how best to make a bird feeder with your own hands, looking at “live” examples of how many people have implemented their projects. There can be many feeders, and there are countless options for making them. However, they are all made for the same purpose. So, here are the main types of structures of this kind.

A dispenser is a very useful device for feeding birds. In addition, the bottle can be hung vertically “upside down”

Wooden house

It is quite possible to make such a design yourself. There is no need to have any specific skills or knowledge. As a rule, in such work, improvised or unnecessary boards, pieces of logs and many other wooden elements are used. Taking boards or veneer as a basis, main task is their strong connection.

By the way, wooden bird feeders can be used not only for feeding yard birds. Similar designs are used in chicken coops, when feeding chickens and other poultry. However, this, as they say, is a completely different story.

Plywood feeder

This design can be made with your own hands right at home. You don't need any special tools or conditions for this. In this case, of course, you will have to find drawings of the feeders. On the other hand, you can make a drawing with dimensions yourself, since there is nothing particularly complicated in its development. For getting additional ideas We recommend that you familiarize yourself with photos and examples of finished work.

Hopper feeder

This type of construction, so to speak, “migrated” from Agriculture. One of its main advantages is that it allows one to exclude “discrimination” of some bird species by others. You yourself have probably noticed that often a flock of birds, for example, sparrows or tits, takes an advantageous position in the immediate vicinity of food (seeds, bread crumbs, grains, cereals, loaves, etc.) or even in the feeder itself and strives to prevent other birds from accessing such a valuable resource.

Therefore, limiting the area where feathered friends can feed becomes an important task. Therefore, in such cases, homemade bunker feeders, also known as anti-passerine feeders, can be useful.

Feeders made from plastic bottles

Feeder from a canister - too great option

This type of design is extremely simple, so everyone, including children, can make it themselves. In order to make it, you just need to cut one or two holes in the bottle in order to pour bird food inside, and, in fact, so that the birds have the opportunity to get inside. Of course, you need to be careful in doing this, since the holes should be as even and symmetrical as possible.

Interesting! If you have the time and desire, you can further decorate the feeder with natural materials or apply inscriptions.

Let's take a closer look at the features of carrying out work when there are bottles of different sizes. The fact is that the most common starting materials in such cases are:

So, if you use the first option, then you can choose two types of designs. In the first case, we are talking about making holes in both sides of the bottle. They can have different shapes: round, rectangular or square.

In the second case, you can make a special canopy that would cover the hole, protecting it from snow. In order to make it, you just need to cut a U-shaped hole, leaving one side (top). After this, this section of the bottle is bent upward, thus forming a kind of visor. This, by the way, can also be done on both sides.

To make it more comfortable for the birds, you can make two small holes under the main openings and insert a long stick into them for them to perch on before getting inside. As for the lower edge of the main holes, for greater safety it is advisable to cover it with adhesive tape or several layers of electrical tape. A cloth adhesive plaster will also work. In this way, you can make your own feeder from plastic containers of relatively small volume.

Even easier, you can make a feeder from a 5-liter bottle. The fact is that the walls are often straight, which allows you to cut a more even hole. Plus, more seeds and crumbled loaf can be placed in such a container, and it is more convenient for birds to fly inside. To make this you will need a knife or strong scissors.

If the plastic bottle is attached horizontally, then holes can be cut in place of the bottom and neck. If you plan to fix it vertically, then you can cut 2, 3 or even 4 holes on different sides if you are working with a bottle that has a square or rectangular cross-section. This, by the way, will allow several birds to fly in and feed at once. For round bottles, you can cut 2-3 holes. By the way, based on a large bottle with a volume of 5 liters or more, you can also make a bunker feeder.

On a note! It is advisable to cut the holes at a height of at least 5 centimeters from the bottom, maybe a little more.

Attaching such a feeder is quite simple: you can tie it either by the neck or by the handle, which is integral part lids using twine or thin wire. This is if we talk about vertical options. When fixing horizontally, it is best to make 2 parallel small holes (they can be made using a knife or other sharp object), passing the wire or rope through them, which is necessary for fastening.

In any case, this option is very affordable, since almost everyone has unwanted 5-liter water bottles at their disposal. Example photos show various options for how this can be done.

Bird feeder made from a milk or juice carton

5 minutes - and a new feeder from a juice bag is ready

Everyone has juice or milk boxes. We usually throw them away. The manufacturing technology is extremely simple, and in some ways resembles the previous one (with plastic bottles). So, if you want to make a bird feeder from a juice or milk carton, your sequence of actions could be as follows:

• We outline future holes using a pen, marker or felt-tip pen.
• Carefully cut them out using scissors or a sharp knife.
• Cover the bottom side of the opening with tape or adhesive tape.
• We make small holes for the rope or wire at the top of the bag.
• We hang the resulting feeder from a tree branch, lilac or other places.

The easiest and fastest option from a milk carton

By the way, in some cases you can put a weight on the bottom or attach to it in the form of a piece of brick or something similar. This will minimize swaying in the event of strong winds. This applies not only to paper boxes, but also plastic bottles.

Remember! In some cases, you can attach the feeder to the wall.

Using a shoe box

By the way, a bird feeder is made from a shoe box in a similar way. Of course, the fact that it is made of cardboard does not allow such a feeder to be durable. On the other hand, some boxes are made of fairly durable and moisture-resistant cardboard. Moreover, you can additionally cover the cardboard with tape, which will further increase its protection from the effects of bad weather conditions. This will increase the life of the feeder to some extent, although, in any case, it will not be as durable as its counterparts made of wood, cardboard and even plastic.

The manufacturing technology itself is extremely simple and does not require any special instructions. You just need to make the necessary slits on the sides of the box and also secure the lid. This can also be done using tape.

Other options

Of course, all these types of feeders are the most common and popular. However, it makes sense to talk about alternative options. The first of these is a feeder made from tableware.

By the way! You can also make a drinking bowl from the dishes, which is also very important for the birds.

Such original products are made from cups and saucers. If you add a deep plate, you can make both a feeder and a drinker at the same time. Some craftsmen make feeders from old buckets, usually plastic. They turn out to be large, which somewhat limits the possibilities for their installation, which, of course, is a certain disadvantage. The advantage is the same: the size of such a product is quite large. This allows you to pour in more food. In addition, several birds can feed at the same time. We must not forget about the strength of this design.

Bird feeders in winter help save birds from hunger. However, this is not the only reason why it is worth making them.

The beautiful and original feeders themselves can become a unique decoration for your garden.

And the process of their creation instills in the younger generation a sense of responsibility and care for weak creatures.

In addition, this is invaluable time, which allows parents to spend time with their children with interest and benefit.

Wooden bird feeders

There are several types of feeders that can be made from wood. Firstly, these are feeders that look like a base made of plywood or other similar material with sides around the edges that prevent treats for birds from falling apart.

Most often, such a structure is suspended from a tree branch on thick ropes.

But such a feeder has a number of disadvantages. The most obvious thing is that this design does not in any way protect the food poured into it from precipitation and bad weather. It is also quite light and can move or tip over in the wind.

The second version of wooden feeders looks more like a house and has a roof. In such feeders, the food is reliably protected from bad weather. The base of the structure looks the same as in the first version, only there are supports on it that support the roof.

The roof can be either straight or pitched. Any child can make a straight roof, because essentially it is a rectangular piece of plywood, only slightly larger than the base.

A pitched roof has a slightly more complex design, but it the better that, unlike a straight roof, snow does not accumulate on it and does not have to be cleaned periodically.

There are also original versions of feeders made of wood. For example, a feeder can be made from ordinary logs. To do this you will need a chainsaw, a chisel and a hammer, as well as a chain and rings for hanging.

To begin with, you need to saw off two round pieces of wood on both sides of the future feeder. Then a wedge is cut along the entire log, and longitudinal and transverse cuts are made, not reaching the bark by about 5 centimeters.

This is necessary so that later it will be easier to remove the middle from the workpiece with a chisel. After all the work is done, the previously cut round pieces are nailed on both sides of the feeder.

All that remains is to screw in the rings and attach a chain on which you can hang the feeder.

Feeders made from plastic bottles

Plastic bottles are also used as feeders to feed birds. These can be either 5-6 liter containers or small 1.5-2 liter bottles.

Most often, a plastic bottle is turned into a feeder by cutting out several windows in the body.

Then such feeders are hung horizontally or vertically, depending on the design. For the convenience of the birds, cross perches are installed near the bottom of the feeder.

But sometimes you can find quite original feeders that provide automatic addition of feed. These are the so-called bunker feeders.

Such a feeder can consist of two wooden spoons inserted at an angle into through holes in the bottle. Thus, food from the bottle will gradually pour out onto the spoon.

A bunker feeder can be made from a 2-liter bottle. To do this, just cut the bottle in half, make round holes in the bottom, and turn the top over and place the neck down. The top can be covered with a lid or a disposable plate. You won’t need to add food to this feeder for a long time.

Useful materials for making bird feeders

The simplest feeder you can come up with is a garland of rowan, pine cone or berries. A treat for birds strung on a rope will decorate young trees in the garden. The only disadvantage of such a feeder is that as the food is eaten, the garland loses its appearance.

An interesting solution would be to make a feeder in the form of lumps of grain or seeds. Such decorations can be placed on benches, tables, or simply hung on trees in nets, in which tangerines are usually sold in stores.

They are based on fat or gelatin. The lard is melted and the main food is added to it. Then the finished substance is poured into molds (this can be baking molds or a regular balloon) and placed in a cold place to harden.

The same goes for dissolved gelatin mixed with grain.

If you have coconut shells lying around idle, then they can also be used to make a feeder.

As a result, such a design will be invisible on the tree. Juice or milk boxes are also suitable for making feeders. Their design itself will not differ much from simple feeders made from plastic bottles.

Photos of bird feeder ideas

Winter time is a serious test for birds. Every day it becomes more and more difficult to find food. Take care of the birds - hang a feeder made with your own hands from the simplest materials at hand, which we usually throw in a landfill. We selected photos and original ideas making feeders that do not require special skills and complex drawings.

How to make a bird feeder with your own hands?

Having accustomed the birds to the feeder, you will be able to observe the entertaining avian bustle and the secret life of birds.

Some of them defend their rights in fights with relatives, others enter into competition with other species, but without exception, all of them carefully look around so as not to miss the attack of a small hawk, which is very interested in visitors to the feeder.

Materials for making a feeder can be very varied, but there are some general rules design:

• the feeder should, first of all, be convenient for the birds; there should be no difficulty in removing food;
• The roof and sides will help protect the food from snow, rain and wind. Exposure to moisture can cause food to deteriorate and become moldy, which means it will turn into poison for birds;
• It is desirable that the material from which the feeder will be made be resistant to moisture, otherwise such a design will not last long and a new one will need to be made;

• walls and corners should not be sharp or prickly;
• feeders for small birds are made small in size so that larger and more aggressive species do not encroach on their food;
• It is better to place feeders on tree branches or attach them to the walls of outbuildings at a height of about one and a half meters, so that cats do not offend the birds, and it is convenient to sprinkle food on your feathered friends.

Advice. Birds get used to a permanent feeding place and are ready to travel many kilometers to the feeder. Therefore, feeding must be constant, otherwise the birds may die.

Plywood bird feeder

You can buy a feeder in a hypermarket, or you can make it yourself in a few hours. A plywood feeder can be made open, with a flat or gable roof, and a bunker compartment can be provided if you cannot constantly monitor the amount of feed in the feeder. Of course, you will need drawings, fortunately, there are plenty of them on the Internet with ready-made dimensions of parts for cutting. Choose a design that you like, the drawing will make the work easier and guarantee that in the end you will get exactly what is shown in the photo.

When choosing a design for a future feeder, consider the bird population in your region. Jays, pigeons and magpies can eat all the food, leaving little titmice hungry. To prevent this from happening, make the size of the feeder openings such that large birds cannot reach the feed.

So, you will need a hammer, an electric jigsaw, nails of a suitable length, water-based glue, sandpaper, plywood, 20 x 20 mm timber. Let's look at a simple feeder.

Ideas and drawings of a bird feeder made of wood

Wooden feeders are attractive because they last a long time and keep their shape well - this is due to the properties and reliability of wood. To make such a feeder you will need at least minimal skills in working with tools and a drawing. The board for production should be 18 - 20 mm thick. Let's consider the option of making a feeder, which you can do yourself or take a photo as a basis for a drawing. We will need a beam measuring 4.5 x 2 cm for the racks, a square of plywood 25 x 25 cm for the bottom, two pieces measuring 35 x 22 cm for the roof, nails, screws and glue.

Such a feeder can be installed permanently on a dug-in post or drill two holes in the ridge, screw in a screw with a hook and hang it on a wire. Several birds can fly up to the feeder at the same time, the food is protected from the wind by the sides and roof, the feathered friends of the garden will love such a cozy dining room.

If you have a gazebo on your site, hang a simple feeder there without a roof. It is enough to make a side and a bottom. If you want to paint the feeder or open it with varnish, then use water-based compounds so as not to harm the birds.

Advice. To prevent the wood from splitting, you need to make the tip of the nail blunt, and drill a hole for the screw before screwing it in.

Making a feeder out of cardboard (suitable for children)

One of the simplest feeders. The cardboard version is interesting because it can be made in a place with children and at the same time have a great time with them. This would be a great craft for kindergarten or primary school. There is a lot of room for creativity here. Cardboard is an excellent option; it is only afraid of direct water. But if you want to play it safe and make the feeder more resistant to moisture, then you can glue the external elements of the feeder with wide tape, especially its upper and lower parts. In a forest or park, such a feeder can easily last all winter and part of spring.

Collage of a cardboard feeder. Photo livemaster.ru/topic/179659-delaem-kormushku-iz-kartona

The set of tools and materials is minimal, and if you don’t have something from this list, you can always find a replacement. So we will need these materials and tools:

• A couple of sheets of cardboard (A4 format or more);
• Ruler;
• Scotch tape (for structural reliability);
• Stationery knife;
• A rope or piece of nylon rope to hang the feeder;
• Pencil or felt-tip pen;
• Cardboard glue or glue gun;
• Hole puncher.

If such a feeder is going to take the prize for the best craft in your kindergarten, then you will have to work a little in terms of external design. Here our cardboard will give a head start to any Tetra-Pak (this is a milk or juice carton), you can beautifully draw on it and decorate it in every possible way. Undoubtedly, the prize from kindergarten will be yours!

Pumpkin feeder

But here, as they say, words are unnecessary - everything is visible in the photo collage. I would like to add that such a feeder looks very attractive and unusual and will be a real decoration of your garden, this is due to the shape of the feeder and its color, which looks great against the background of white snow.

This option is also suitable for making with children. And such a beautiful, bright craft will definitely not go unnoticed in kindergarten.

Bird feeder from a box (package) Tetra Pak) from juice or milk

You can make a feeder from a milk carton or a tetra pack of juice, like this. Even a child can do this. For this you will need:

• clean juice box;
• a piece of nylon rope or wire to hang the feeder;
• adhesive plaster;
• marker;
• scissors or stationery knife.

First of all, mark and cut holes on opposite sides of the tetra pack. To make it convenient for the birds to take food and fly out. We cover the bottom side of the window with adhesive tape for the convenience and safety of the birds. We poke a hole under the holes with scissors and insert the cardboard rolled up into a tube, which is left over from cutting the holes above. In the bent corners we make small holes for wire or rope. And we tie it to a branch.

The feeder can be attached to a tree trunk. Such a feeder will not sway in the wind. To do this, feeding slots are made not on opposite sides of the bag, but on adjacent ones. On the opposite side we fix the wire in the slot and screw it to the tree.

You can make a feeder out of two juice bags. We cut the first package along the narrow sides, leaving the top uncut. From the second tetra pack we cut off the third part and cut a hole on the front side of the bag - this will be the feeding board or the bottom of the feeder. We combine the bottom with the first package so that we get a triangle. The parts can be connected with glue, wrapped with tape, or by piercing the bottom of the sides and inserting straws for cocktails.

Bird feeder made from plastic bottles 1.5 - 2 liters

Let's look at some variations of making a do-it-yourself feeder made from plastic containers.

Option #1. The simplest feeder

Symmetrically, on both sides of the bottle we cut out two holes: round, square, rectangular or in the form of an arch. There should be bridges between the holes. If you make a slot in the form of an inverted letter “P” and bend the plate upward, you will get a rain canopy. You can stick an adhesive plaster or fabric tape to the bottom edge of the hole - the edges will not be sharp and the birds will sit comfortably. We make symmetrical holes in the lower part and insert a stick - the result is a feeder with a perch.

You can attach such a dining room for birds to a tree by wrapping the jumper with tape, rope or other suitable material, as seen in the photo. If you make a hole in the bottle cap and insert the ends of the twine, and then tie them in a knot, you will get a loop that can be thrown over the branches of garden trees.

Option #2. Bunker feeder.

This design is rational to use because the feed can be poured in for several days. As the birds eat it, the food will automatically be added to the feeding area itself.

You will need two bottles of the same volume. We mark one bottle with a marker before cutting. We make holes at the bottom, as in feeder No. 1, and remove the top third of the bottle. We make two symmetrical holes at the top - a ribbon or twine will later be tied to them for hanging the feeder. In the second bottle we cut several holes at the narrowest part - food will pour out of them. Do not make large holes right away; it is better to expand them later. We pour food into the bottle, tighten the cap and insert the bottle into the first bottle, cut by a third.

Option #3. Feeder with spoon

We make a hole in the cork and insert twine for hanging. Then we make two holes symmetrically the size of the spoon. We cut a hole in the bottle above the bowl-shaped deep part of the spoon, slightly widening it so that the birds can take the food. Fill the feeder and hang it up.

Advice. Using a hot needle or small nail, make several holes in the bottom of the feeder to drain moisture that gets inside.

Bird feeder made from a plastic bottle 5 liters

Probably in every home there is an empty five-liter plastic water bottle. Making a feeder in one evening to feed birds in winter from this material is very simple. Such a container will hold much more food than a smaller plastic bottle, as can be seen in the photo. Several holes will allow several birds to feed comfortably at once.

This is a very simple and quick option, invite your children or other family members to take part in the manufacturing process: find a ribbon or wire to tie the finished feeder to a tree branch, prepare a treat for the birds. Prepare a clean bottle, a sharp knife, pruning shears or a utility knife.

We cut the hole based on how we plan to secure the container to the tree:

• horizontally - cut a wide hole from the bottom of the bottle and the same from the neck;
• vertically - at a height of 5-7 cm from the bottom of the container, cut several square holes or three rectangular ones.

It is convenient to tie the bottle by the neck to a branch with wire or twine. If the feeder is made in a horizontal version, then use a knife to make two holes on the wall through which you pass the twine for tying. To prevent the feeder from swaying in the wind, place a quarter of a brick on the bottom to weigh it down, and load a treat on top.

You can also build a bunker feeder from a five-liter bottle. To do this you will need a five-liter bottle and two 1.5-liter bottles, a marker, a stationery knife and a rope.

With a little ingenuity, you can use the simplest plastic bottles to create unusual dining rooms for birds that will decorate your area.

Shoebox bird feeder

Everything is simple here. Take a thick shoe box with a lid. We make a round hole in the lid. The hole needs to be moved slightly from the center to the bottom edge of the box (a little different in the photo), this is necessary so that the birds can reach the food, which will lie at the bottom of the box.

We make a small hole in the top of the box and insert a tourniquet or rope through it. We tie an old pencil or stick to the end of this rope. We will then tie the other end of the rope to the branch of the tree on which we plan to hang the feeder. Then you can wrap the box with wrapping paper, but this is for aesthetic purposes, you don’t have to do this.

We make a roof out of ordinary cardboard and put it on glue. Next, we glue the lid to the box itself with tape, as in Figure 3, 4, and also thread a rope through the lid.

At the moment when we hang the finished feeder on a tree, the roof may come unstuck from the box, but this is not scary, it won’t be able to get away anywhere, because it will be held in place by a rope.

And in the picture below is an even simpler version of a shoebox feeder. But there is no need to explain anything here, everything is already visible in the photo. The entire box is simply wrapped with tape, which, by the way, is very practical. And in our opinion, it turned out to be original and unusual.

Cardboard bird feeder

To make a bird canteen with your own hands, the simplest material will do, which is stored in abundance on the balconies of most families: boxes of electrical goods, cardboard packaging from food products. Choose thicker cardboard with a laminated coating; laminate will slightly increase the service life of the feeder. Although, as written above, you can use wide tape for these purposes. The advantage of this design is that there is already a bottom, walls and roof of the future feeder, which needs to be slightly modified by cutting square or rectangular holes on the sides.

You will need a nylon cord, scissors or a stationery knife and tape. Since cardboard is a very short-lived material and is afraid of moisture, a finished feeder wrapped with tape will last until the next season. Having cut the side holes and secured the cord, you can hang the feeder and fill it with treats for the birds, which will not keep you waiting long. Place sand or some pebbles at the bottom so that the structure does not sway too much in the wind.

You can do it a little differently. We glue the lid of the box perpendicularly so that the lid serves as a stern stand, and the second part of the box serves as a side and a roof. We glue the structure with tape. We make two hooks from wire: we bend a piece of wire in half and pierce the “ceiling” of the feeder with the ends, twist it and bend it from the inside. By connecting the hooks, you can hang the feeder on a branch. As you can see in the photo. Now pour in the food and wait for the guests.

Window bird feeder (with suction cups)

These feeders are a very interesting option for general development children, and adults too :). The feeder is attached to the window, or rather to the glass, using suction cups. Usually such feeders are also made transparent in order to fully enjoy watching the birds. If you have suction cups, you can make such a feeder yourself, for example, from the same plastic bottle, but you must agree that it will still not be as aesthetically pleasing as the ready-made version from the store. Children will probably start taking pictures of all this, and photos with yellowed, cloudy bottles will, to put it mildly, not be so hot. The purchased options look very nice.

DIY bird feeder: video

Types of bird feeders: photos

Bird feeders have long become something more than just a device for feeding them. We admit that we not only want to make life easier for birds, but also to observe the behavior of wonderful birds, decorate our yard, realize ourselves in front of others and teach our children to love this world. If at the same time our wards help in protecting the garden from pests, it will turn out very well.

Bird feeders: what should they be?

When starting to make a feeder, it is useful to remember Exupery’s remark: we are responsible for those we have tamed.

In other words, having accustomed the birds to easy food production, we are obliged to think about them all winter.

Otherwise, they will experience big problems, losing food overnight, and may even die. Now we list a number of characteristics that a poultry canteen must meet:

• the bird table must have sides that will prevent the wind from blowing away the food;
• the craft should not have sharp edges that could injure birds’ legs;
• a roof over the table will protect food from rain and snow;
• the feeder should be, if possible, inaccessible to cats;
• the holes in the walls of the craft must be of sufficient size so that the birds are not afraid of closed spaces;
• the product must be moisture resistant in order to last at least one season;
• the craft should not sway too much in the wind, that is, it is better to weigh it down with a piece of linoleum or pebbles.

The birds won't like this feeder.

Bird feeders: what are they?

There are so many people who want to make an exclusive table for birds that they have created an innumerable number of hand-made works. Obviously, everyone's preferences and capabilities are different. We intend to offer you a range of different products with a description of their features and designs. Of course, we will also discuss the wishes of the birds themselves. Putting everything together, you will have the opportunity to compose your own “symphony” called “bird feeder”.

Made of wood - most options

The picture shows feeders made from planks. Depending on preferences and availability of material, you can choose one or another design. The very first option has a twist: a gap on the side bar for water to drain. Any product will last longer if it is treated with impregnation, painted and varnished.

These products are a little more complicated - they are all made of bars and slats. This material allows you to make quite interesting and exclusive options. Pieces of roofing felt on the roof will significantly increase the durability of the craft. The bars and slats can be secured with small nails or glue.

Using tree branches will bring your craft closer to nature. The product can be quite simple and unusual. The use of impregnation and varnish is also advisable in this case.

Feeders made from birch branches look very interesting. Given such material, I would choose this option. Possible various ways roof execution. Birch bark already carries protective functions, but varnish wouldn't hurt.

The photo shows several feeders for mounting on a wall or to a tree trunk. They all have a back plate with a hole for fastening. You can independently make options of varying complexity. The glass jar feeder is very simple and easy to use.

The photo shows surprisingly simple and original wood structures. It’s quite possible to make such feeders yourself. Treatment with protective impregnation did them good.

Carved products are fraught with considerable possibilities. However, in this case it is difficult to do without a jigsaw. A piece of galvanized steel on the roof is correct. Treatment with a blowtorch will give the product a special color. It is simply necessary to protect a product on which a lot of time has been spent from moisture.

The images above show a selection of products made by professionals. All parts of the feeders were first processed and painted, and then assembled into a single structure. As a result, we have impeccable appearance and durability. Nothing prevents you from repeating the same thing!

The photo shows feeders that will decorate a mansion of any level with their presence. Probably, such products are made by specialists in a workshop. I am sure that if you set a goal, it is quite possible to repeat the elite version yourself.

In the photo above we have selected the most interesting ideas wooden feeders. They differ in materials and design. Moreover, it is quite possible to make such products yourself.

Made from plywood – its features and capabilities

Here are several designs of plywood feeders. There are quite a lot of products made using this technology. The parts of such feeders are cut out on a machine and sold in stores in the form of sets. Crafts are assembled easily and quickly. A set from the store is interesting and useful to process and paint to your taste.

These products are made in a workshop from thick plywood. The designs are assembled from simple parts and can be easily replicated yourself if you have a jigsaw. Clean plywood clearly requires coating and decoration.

It is much easier to make a plywood feeder using bars and slats. In this case, you can do without a jigsaw. The designs shown in the picture are different, but simple.

Plywood feeders using wood are quite popular. We demonstrate several more possible options. Simplicity of execution cannot create barriers to exclusive options if they get down to business creative people.

The picture above shows evidence of the effectiveness of using paints in making a feeder. In the hands of craftsmen, fairly simple products can easily turn into fabulous attributes. In this case, desire is more important than the inclinations of an artist.

Especially for those who want to make a feeder from plywood and blocks, we have prepared product drawings. All parts are numbered for convenience. To assemble the feeder you will need 4mm thick plywood, a block with a cross section of 20x20mm and wood screws.

Here is a drawing of the parts of the feeder. The number of the latter is given in the table. The cross-section of the 20X20 bar is not shown in the drawing.

From bottles - simple and reliable

Very often bird feeders are made from plastic bottles. This is due to the availability and durability of available materials and ease of manufacture. Transparent plastic bottles allow you to easily observe the behavior of birds.

The sharp edges of the plastic must be treated with electrical tape or a PVC tube cut along the length. Then the birds will not injure their legs and plumage. Light bottle feeders should be weighted with pieces of linoleum or pebbles to prevent them from swaying in the wind. The image above shows the simplest options.

Containers made from automobile fluids make it possible to obtain more reliable and voluminous structures. Unfortunately, they are not transparent. In feeders made from any plastic containers, small holes should be made in the bottom to allow water to drain.

Five-liter eggplants can be decorated beyond recognition. Burlap, twine, washcloth and small twigs will do. To prevent beauty from fading quickly, it is necessary to use moisture-resistant materials and glue.

As you can see, there are plenty of options for decorating feeders made from five-liter bottles. Show your imagination and make it your own and unique. Don't forget about the reliability of the design.

In the photo above there are several more typical techniques for using plastic bottles:

1. In the first picture, two holes were made in the bottle opposite each other, closer to the neck. A stick was inserted into the holes - a stick. A hole for food was made just below the perch. It should have optimal dimensions: the seeds do not spill, but are accessible to the bird. Then they poured in the food, turned the container upside down and secured it to the tree.
2. In the next image, the role of dispensers and shelves is played by the two upper parts of the bottles, tightly inserted with their necks into the holes on the sides of the main bottle. The lower edges of the specified parts are bent and turned inward so that the birds do not injure their paws.
3. The picture on the left below shows the possibilities of using paints. The simple, tasteful design brings the technical transparency of plastic to life.
4. Availability wooden spoons helps to call the birds for dinner. They are simply threaded through the holes in the bottle. It is better to place the spoons at an angle so that two birds can eat at once. The holes for food above the spoon should not be too large so that the food does not spill out all at once.

Made from cardboard and bags - cheap and cheerful

Bird feeders made of cardboard and cardboard boxes the most unreliable. But you can make a large feeder and decorate it as you wish. You can increase the service life of a cardboard bird canteen by covering it with tape or film.

Dairy and juice bags are a good way to make feeders. They cost nothing and have good moisture resistance. Of course, bottles are more durable, but bags are easier to work with. You have several options for execution.

We decided to make a fun and simple feeder from a 2 liter juice carton. The idea came up to feed the birds on a makeshift bus. The master class on assembling the craft is quite simple:

Unusual – bunker, transparent, designer, funny

Of particular interest to us are bunker feeders, which provide automatic feed supply as it is consumed. This way, bird food is not blown away by the wind, and we do not have to constantly monitor the availability of grain. The design of such a feeder can be very different, but the essence is the same: through a hole of a certain size, food pours in from above and replenishes the bird’s table.

In the above examples, the dispenser is:

• gap between two glasses;
• narrow neck of a glass bottle;
• holes at the bottom of the plastic bottle.

We have already considered similar options in the description of feeders made from plastic bottles. Based on these principles, you can certainly come up with something new.

Feeders using plexiglass look elegant. Birds and food are clearly visible. The design approach makes you want to repeat it successful experiment.

I don't want to throw away the rest of the tea set. Here are four options for using dishes as a feeder. The moisture resistance and appearance of the material are beyond doubt. Securing a cup or teapot in the garden is not difficult.

Particularly persistent and talented home-made people create funny feeders - jokes. You have to be determined to do it again. best examples. It’s especially nice to compose something of your own.

To begin with, you can try a simpler option made from plastic bottles. Much depends on the materials you have at hand. The above examples are quite subject to female hands.

Here are four options for a “male” cool wooden feeder. The design of the crafts is quite obvious. Repeating the proposed ideas is a very real task.

Here are images of several more options for unusual bird feeders. The main idea is obvious: don't be afraid to experiment. It’s easier not to torment yourself with searching for exactly the same materials, but to use existing ones.

Let's make a feeder together - a snowman from a plastic bottle

Of course, I want to make a bird feeder simpler and more interesting. It seems to us that a snowman with gifts from Santa Claus for the birds is a suitable option. The master class for making crafts is as follows:

1. On one side of the bottle we mark the snowman's mouth with a marker. Now this wall will be the face. We cut out the outlines of the mouth according to the markings. Bend the resulting tongue down 90 degrees.
2. On the side we mark the ear in the form of an inclined oval, narrowed at the bottom. Cut a hole simulating an ear.
   
   
3. Place the resulting piece of plastic on the other side and outline it with a marker. Cut out the second ear.
4. Mark a large rectangular hole at the back of the head and cut it out.
   
   
5. The result was a blank, as in the photo above.
6. Paint the snowman's cap the same blue as the bottle cap. Paint the bottom of the eggplant with white paint.
   
   
7. We paint the tongue with red paint.
   
   
8. We put a plastic corrugated tube with a diameter of 16mm on the edges of all holes. In an electrical goods store, 2m of such pipe will cost absolutely nothing. We first cut the tube along its entire length.
9. To weight the container we use linoleum. Place the container on it and trace it with a marker. It is better to cut out two such parts.
   
   
10. We prepare plugs, screws, a sealant cover and a stick in accordance with the picture. We make holes in the corks for screws. We make a hole in the red cork for the stick.
    
    
11. We make two holes to install the nose stick. We punch one at the place of the nose, the other at the back of the head. We insert a stick into them. We first put the red plug on it, and then the sealant cover. The result is a snowman's nose.
    
    
12. We collect the eyes from small white and large blue caps. We screw them into place with self-tapping screws. From the inside, we screw two more covers onto the protruding screws to securely fasten the eyes and protect against sharp screws. All is ready!

Master class on making a classic feeder

At school, my youngest son was encouraged to make a bird feeder. The following materials were found:

• painted galvanized corner 50x50mm;
• wooden slats with a cross section of 20x40mm;
• a piece of plywood 4mm thick.

From which it was decided to compose my work. The sequence of the master class is as follows:

Cereal biscuits for birds

Sometimes you can do without creating a feeder to help the birds. You can hang special bird cookies on tree branches. Note that bird cookies made from grains look so tempting that I would eat them myself.

The first way to make a delicacy is as follows:

• prepare molds for making cookies;
• place pieces of twine in the molds that will serve as pendants;
• dissolve the gelatin packet in warm water;
• pour grain feed into the prepared solution;
• pour the mixture into the prepared molds;
• place the food in the refrigerator to harden;
• We hang the finished cookies on tree branches: accessible to our eyes and out of reach of cats.

In the absence of forms, beautiful food for birds can be made in another way:

• cut out figures of various shapes from cardboard;
• we make holes in the cardboard blanks, thread twine through them and tie rings for fastening on the tree;
• to attach the food to the cardboard, we prepare special glue, which consists of an egg, a spoonful of honey, 2 tablespoons of oatmeal and flour;
• mix the mixture and leave to mature for half an hour;
• When the glue is ready, lubricate the cardboards with it and roll the latter in bird food;
• send the semi-finished product to the refrigerator to harden;
• When the cookies are ready, we hang them on the tree and go to the window to observe.

Bird food: “what is good and what is bad”?

Take a close look at the birds that have remained to spend the winter in our area. The hope was frozen in their eyes that we would not give them an “expired product” or harmful food for them, from which the birds would suffer. Let's remember what we cannot treat our charges to, what should never be included in their diet:

• salted and fried seeds;
• cream pies and cake;
• fresh white bread;
• Rye bread;
• nuts;
• chips;
• cereals;
• leftover bananas and other citrus fruits;
• fresh fruits.

Fortunately, the range of possibilities is much wider. Birds can be offered:

• bread crumbs;
• sunflower, pumpkin and watermelon seeds;
• cereals: oats, wheat, millet, barley;
• rice, buckwheat;
• unsalted lard especially for tits;
• viburnum and rowan, maple and ash seeds especially for bullfinches.

Eggshells, coarse sand, and crushed chalk will serve as seasoning for birds' dinner, especially during the nest-building period. Thus, we know almost everything about bird feeders and bird food. By the way, observing the behavior of birds in spring and summer is no less fascinating than in winter. We wish you good luck and offer a video to help.

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